Woman on trial for shooting over parking spot said she didn't intend to hit anyone

A woman on trial for shooting another woman amid a confrontation in October over an accessible parking spot in Bremerton testified Wednesday that in less than a second after being punched in the face, she pulled her pistol and fired downward.

Right after firing her gun, eyes blurry from the strike, Bria Alicia Cannon, 24, told jurors she didn’t know who hit her. However, she feared another strike, didn’t think the confrontation had been escalating toward a physical fight and at first did not believe she shot anybody while outside the Spyglass Apartments, at 636 Highland Ave.

Right after firing, Cannon said she heard another person at the scene ask Kristin B. Finley if she had been shot, and Cannon heard Finley say, “yeah.”

“No, I didn’t,” Cannon recalled saying in response to hearing she shot her, according to her testimony. She then saw Finley bleeding and called 911.

“Initially I panicked, because I have never shot a person, or intended to shoot a person,” Cannon said, who testified she had never before fired the 9 mm pistol she carried loaded and ready to shoot wherever she went – including bars and grocery stores.

Cannon is charged with first- and second-degree assault for the non-fatal shooting Oct. 3 of Finley. She contends the shooting was in self-defense and her reaction was informed by PTSD and anxiety disorder.

Prosecutors allege that regardless of whether it was a shove or a punch, Cannon’s reaction was unjustified.

“These two acts are not equivalent and they are not proportionate,” Deputy Prosecutor Albert Didcock told jurors Thursday in closing arguments.

Cannon also testified she saw a gun being handled by Finley's companion in the car in which Finley had arrived, but Didcock noted no other witness testified to seeing a gun.

The confrontation between shipmates from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, homeported at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for an overhaul, came after a night of drinking and dancing at McCloud’s Grill House, 4111 Wheaton Way.

Bremerton police investigators wrote in court documents there was history among all the people involved. They all were friends or at least knew of each other from the Roosevelt. Cannon had previously dated Finley’s companion that night, according to police reports.

The bullet went through Finley’s abdomen and required surgery. She testified that Cannon did not shoot downward.

“She was trying to shoot me with the gun,” Finley told jurors, who denied “punching” Cannon. Rather, she said she pushed Cannon because Cannon had gotten inside her personal space.

Cannon and other witnesses testified about a rowdy atmosphere at McCloud’s that evening. At one point, while Cannon and others were dancing, Finley is alleged to have been intoxicated and, unprovoked, shoved two other women.

Finley was alleged to have later chased one of the women into the parking lot and took a swing at her. She was restrained as onlookers chanted “WorldStar,” a website known for posting videos of fights.

Didcock called the testimony about the victim’s conduct at the bar “background noise.”

The shooting was reported at about 2:19 a.m. in the parking area of the apartment building, after the bar closed and the two groups left and inadvertently arrived at the apartment together.

Cannon said she was with three others when they arrived to find Finley – who lived there – and Cannon’s former girlfriend parked in the accessible parking spot, according to police reports.

Neither driver was physically disabled, but Cannon’s driver had his mother’s accessible parking placard, lived at the building as well and believed he had a right to the spot.

Witnesses said the man quickly got out of the truck and confronted the people, demanding they move, starting the confrontation that led to the shooting.

In closing arguments, Cannon’s attorney, Tom Weaver, said much of the testimony from the state’s witnesses was confusing if not uncredible.

He noted that the job of the jury is to decide the facts.

“Good luck,” Weaver said.

Further, Weaver said the evidence presented by the state from the charged and alcohol-influenced atmosphere of the parking dispute did not prove Cannon acted intentionally and did not disprove Cannon was justified in firing her gun.

“Things escalated fast, real fast,” Weaver told jurors. “I would say irrationally fast.”

Didcock would later tell jurors that Cannon provided the motive for the shooting in her 911 call, relaying what he said were Cannon’s words: “I shot her because she punched me.”

Deliberations are scheduled to begin Monday morning.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Woman on trial in Bremerton for shooting over accessible parking spot